Russell Wilson’s time with the Denver Broncos may be coming to an end.
With two games left in the regular season and a slim chance to make the playoffs, Sean Payton has reportedly given the Seattle Seahawks great the hook, opting to play former New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jarrett Stidham.
Schefter has gone with the “see what it has in Stidham” line but let’s be real, the main story here is the financial aspect of continuing to play Wilson when a miracle is needed to reach the postseason. If he gets hurt, the Broncos would have to fork over even more money in case he can’t pass a physical.
On the surface, it looks like Wilson is having a normal Wilson year now that he’s with an actual credible NFL head coach and not Nathaniel Hackett. He is one of the league-leaders with 26 touchdown passes to just 8 interceptions, his completion rate is 66.4%, the third-best of his career, and he’s engineered four game-winning drives.
This is where touchdown-to-interception ratio in itself does not mean you’re having an exceptional season.
Despite enjoying one of the NFL’s healthiest offensive lines and the best pass protection of his career by a mile, his sack rate is one of the highest in the league at 9.1%, his net yards per attempt is a career-low 5.72, he’s had 10 fumbles (losing 5), and his completion percentage has been heavily boosted by throwing passes to running backs and/or behind the line of scrimmage at a stupidly high rate.
Denver’s defense, which was a major reason for the 1-5 start, was also a major reason the team clawed its way back into the playoff picture. An insanely high number of takeaways resulted in some very favorable field position for the Broncos offense, and the games were close enough where Wilson could deliver some typical late-game heroics.
Well the spigot has turned off. Denver’s defense has only recorded three turnovers during their 1-3 stretch, the Broncos offense hasn’t hit 300 total yards in five of their last six games, and on 3rd down they’re converting at just a 31.8% clip dating back to the Houston Texans defeat. The horrific 26-23 home loss to the New England Patriots, in which Wilson took sacks on three consecutive 3rd downs, was apparently the final straw for Coach Payton.
It doesn’t take a whole lot to conclude that Wilson’s days in Denver are just about finished, at which point there’s now a clear “winner” in the blockbuster trade between the Broncos and the Seahawks.
